Tihar

It corresponds to the festival of Diwali, the festival of lights. It
is celebrated exactly a fortnight after Dasain. According to the legend,
Lord Ram's return to Ayodhya after fourteen years in exile was
celebrated on this particular day by lighting of earthen lamps all over.
Before the festival, all the Hindus clean, white wash and paint their
houses and surrounding areas. These are also decorated with marigold
flowers and buntings. Earthen lamps and candles are lit and electrical
decoration also takes place. People worship Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess
of wealth too at night.

The festival goes on for five days. As per tradition, each day is
dedicated to worship of a particularly entity or living being. On the
first day. i.e. Kag Tihaar, crows are fed with home prepared delicacies.
The second day known as Kukoor Tihaar, is dedicated to the dogs. They
are garlanded and fed special food prepared from meat and rice. On the
third day, i.e. Gai Tihaar, cows are honoured, garlanded and fed a
specially prepared food. The day four is known as Gom Tihaar, when oxen
are worshipped and fed. On the last day, Bhai Tika is performed when the
girls put a coloured rice mixed 'Tika' on the forehead of their
brothers. Group of girls gather together to sing traditional carols
known as 'Bhailo' at night. From the next morning, group of boys and men
go on singing 'Deusi'. The dancing and singing parties keep visiting
several houses for a couple of days.